Technology tips for success in online classes

Within online classes you will be using a variety of websites, media players, and
multimedia. You should plan to download the Firefox or Safari browser as a backup
(or as your main browser) in case your primary browser does not work for you.

Here is a list of the most common programs, browsers, plug-ins, and media players
used within online courses:

Free Office Suite: If you do not have or do not want to buy the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel,
PowerPoint), consider the following free office suites for a Windows' PC (Open Office) or a Mac (Neo Office).

Free Office Suite:Google Docs. This is the easiest program to use and allows users to work on documents (text,
PowerPoint presentation, spreadsheet) through a web browser. In addition, a user can
invite, by email, other people to view or collaborate on the same document and track
changes very easily through a color-coded system. Last, Google Forms are also web-based
and allow for easy survey creations; once created they are automatically merged with
a spreadsheet to track the submissions. This is a very easy and useful web-based program
for students and faculty. To review the 3-minute training tutorials, please go to
the following link Google Docs Training Tutorials, scrolling down the page until you see the heading for Google Docs.

Know where to find out if your class has a mandatory meeting: Some classes have mandatory
course meetings while others are entirely online. If on-campus meetings are required,
these dates/times will be listed in the college schedule with the course. In WebAdvisor/portal,
you may have to click on the course link to see this information.

Pick up your books at the Book Center (there may be an website access code you need
and it would be available through the Book Center.)

Podcasts, profcasts, video, and audio files are used in many courses to illustrate elements of a course.
By updating your Windows Media Player, Flash and Shockwave players, browser (Internet
Explorer, Firefox, or Safari), and Quicktime player, you will be able to access this
material. At the top of this page you'll see the typical free software/browsers used
within online courses.